Should I have her trained

[goosegetter]

I know every dog is different, and every trainer is different, but what is your guys experience when you send your dog off to school? How long does it take to get a good gun dog trained to be steady to the gun on average?

[shootem]

3 months at the very least!!! 6 to 10 months would be better.

[Eric]

GG, I guess I'm curious about what level you want your dog to perform. Are you looking to run field trials or are you only wanting a solid gun dog? I would suggest that you decide what you want from your dog, force fetched, collar conditioned, solid on obedience, exposed and steady to shot, will take whistle commands and will handle on land and water, is consistently doing routine doubles and so on and so on... There is a good retriever club in your area - the Sunflower Retriever Club. They have a web page that you can find by doing an internet search. They could give you some assistance. You may be able to train your dog and attain the level of performance without going the trainer route. If you wanted to go with a trainer, there are some really solid ones here in state that would do you a great job. Time is of the essence since the hunting season is right around the corner.

[Eric]

GG, If I remember right Jazz is only a few months old, right? Are you thinking of sending her off to a trainer? If you are wanting some additional advice, I forgot to mention the Jayhawk Retriever Club. They are located in the Wichita area as well. I can forward you some contacts with that group if you like. Good Luck!

[GOOSKI]

Usually when the dog has all his adult teeth, then they are ready to be sent away for training. I believe the basic training, obience, and force training is 6 months. Basic handeling and hunt training will take another couple of months ( at least 3 or 4 mo). But, then again it depends what exactly you are looking for in a dog will dictate the length it will need to be sent away for. Good luck with the dog.

[goosegetter]

Eric, I am well aware of the sunflower club. In fact plan on enrolling with them this week.

The pup is only 4 months old at the end of July. I am mainly looking for someone to start the dog and force fetch her. I don't think that I could force fetch the pup.

Here is another question that I will throw out. Should I hunt her the first year, or should I just hold off? The way I look at it is that OJT is the best training. She would have three months training by a Pro and would like to get her out a time or two to see what she really needs work on.

As of right now I plan on sending her to a trainer for a minumum of 3 months with a professional and then trying to finish her up on hand signals. I am not looking for a field trial type of dog, just a good steady gun dog.

[Eric]

GG, I took my dog goose hunting a few times last year and she was around 10 mo's old. She has pretty good OB and I had a stake with a short lead that I could clip her to if she decided to break. She had been introduced to shooting and she did fine. I only took her on hunts where there were going to be no more that two other guys besides me. I typically would not shoot, just handled her. I did not want to over do it too much. I figured there were many more seasons to come and didn't want to totally screw the dog up because I was impatient.

So do you have a trainer picked out yet?

[goosegetter]

Yep, I have a trainer picked out. I don't want to spam, but will give you a hint...located in Stillwater, Ok.

[Eric]

GG, Is the trainer also breeding labs and Golden's? If so, then I know who you speak of. Very solid reputation! When does Jazz ship out?

[goosegetter]

Yes sir breeds both.

Headed down next week to see his set-up and visit with him about what I really want. He mentioned that he would like to get here come 5 months. I kind of thought 5 months was still a little early, but I am not a pro by no means.

[bigredguy42]

I have to ask you guys something. When i picked up my first dog all i ever did was to teach him to sit and stay. The rest just came this dog was tops i never once had to force him. Then my second dog was nothing like the first.There where times when the dog would fall a sleep in the boat even when we where calling. Why is that? Does this come from over breeding?

[shootem]

Boring company and or just bad calling!!!!! hehe
Yes breeding does has a LOT to do with desire and many other thing as trainability